Washing machines



A118? 1953 :.'J.. HOWLETT WASHING MACHINES 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug.15, 1961 In venfor EDWARD HOW/.1577

Aug. 20, 1963 E. J. HOWLETT WASHING MACHINES 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug.15, 1961 F/GLZ.

- E. J. HOWLETT f Aug. 20, 1963 WASHING MACHINES Fil ed Aug. 15, 1961 .7Sheets-Sheet 3 lh venfor EDWARD HOWLETT y mm @W' Afm neya E. J. HOWLETTWASHING MACHINES Filed Aug. 15, 1961 In ven'for EDWARD HOWLETT By mm 1%Aug; 20, 1963 E. J. HOWLETT WASHING MACHINES '7 Sheets-Sheet 5 FiledAug. 15, 1961 In van for ED WARD HOWLETT by W E. J. HOWLETT WASHINGMACHINES Aug. 20, 1963 Filed Aug. 15. 1961 QIIIIIJ '7 Sheets-Sheet 6 /nV6 n for EDWARD Hon L577 Aug. 20, 1963 E. J. HOWLETT WASHING MACHINES 'rsheetssheet 7 Filed Aug. 15. 1961 lnvon for 53 EDWARD HOWLETT AtomavsClaims priority,

United States Patent groved means for mounting and driving the internalcylin- It is known to provide trunnions at the ends of the internalcylinder, but such mounting means make the load-.

ing and unloading of the internal cylinder difiicult. It is also knownto mount the cylinder on a shaft which is rotatably mounted. The shaftis secured to one end of the cylinder leaving the other end availablefor the insertion and removal of clothes.

The present invention provides a washing machine comprising a liouidcontainer, a perforated cylinder, means for gaining access to theinterior of said cylinder, mounting means for said cylinder comprisingat least two endless flexible elements supporting said cylinder withinsaid container, and means for driving said endless flexible elements torotate said cylinder.

These flexible elements or belts may be fitted around the ends of thecylinder itself, or they may engage rims extending from the endsthereof. The cylinder is thus mounted in a cradle formed by. the twoflexible endless members which are preferably in the form of beltsrunning around pulleys, one set of pulleys being on a shaft driven byamotor. The pulleys themselves are within the container while a part ofthe shaft on which they are mounted and the means for driving said shaftare outside the container. A liquid seal is provided where the shaftenters the container to prevent any ingress of liquor from the washingcontainer to the bearings for the shaft.

The cylinder and the container have means for gaining access to theinterior of the cylinder and such means are preferably provided at bothends thereof but'may be at one end only. Said means may include anopening in the end of the said cylinder and an opening at the end of thecontainer .and a door for closing said opening. It will be appreciatedthat the cylinder rotates within the container and the door thereforeseals onto an appropriate liquid seal formed on the exterior of thecontainer.

.Means are also provided for allowing water such as hot and cold waterto enter the container and an inlet is also provided for free steam toincrease the temperature of the Washing liquor within the container.Means are provided for the admission of washing and other reagents toits interior of the machine. Drainage is also provided to enable thewashing liquor to be removed from the container and for other Washingoperations to be performed as for example a rinsing operation. Thecylinder is pe= forated around its exterior surface to allow liquorWithin the container to enter the cylinder, and preferably axial ribsare secured to the interior peripheral surface of the cylinder, whichribs are them-selves perforated and are of substantailly U-shaped incross section with the open mouth of the U in contact with the interiorperipheral wall of the cylinder. Said ribs serve to lift the clothes andto cause greater relative movement of the washing liquor and clothesthus assisting in the removal of the dirt and soil content from clothesinserted in the cylinder and thus ensuring a better washing action.

In order that the present invention may be more readily understoodreference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrateone specific embodiment only of the present invention in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of a washing machine according :to the presentinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a front view of a washing machine show ing the drive meansfor the cylinder only and;

FIGURE 3 is a front view of a washing machine showing the liquid inletand outlet pipes to the container only;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional side elevation showing in greater detail partofthe drive means for rotation of the cylinder;

FIGURE 5 is a cross sectional view showing in greater detail the drivemeans for the cylinder;

FIGURE 6 is a side View of a cylinder according to the presentinvention;

FIGURE 7 is a cross sectional detailed view thereof;

FIGURES 8 and 9 are detailed views of movement limit-ing means for thecylinder according to the present invention;

FIGURE 10 is a perspective view of a belt and drive pulley for use withthe present invention.

in the figures a casing 1 forms a container 43 in which is mounted aperforated cylinder 3. The cylinder 3 is mounted within the container 43by being supported upon two flexible endless belts 22. which arethemselves supported on pulleys 23 and 26 mounted respectively on shafts58 and 39. The cylinder 3 has an open mouth t8 at each end, defined by acowl 46. Within the cylinder 3 are three battens in the form of U-shapedmembers 45 which are themselves perforated. Thebattens 45 are secured bybrackets 49 to the end walls 50 of the cylinder as illustrated in crosssection in FIGURE 7. The container 43 is formed within the casing '1 byWall members 47 and is curved at its lower end and substantially flat atthe top. A flange 57 secured to the outer surface of each wall member 47defines the shape of the container and serves to secure withliquid-tight seals the container 43 to the casing 51. ,The flange 57defines an opening to the container and the cylinder is so mountedwithin the to a substantially vertical shaft 11. The shaft '11 is itselfsecured in a bearing 13 to a bracket '14 secured to the exterior wallsof the container. A handle 8 enables the door to be looked relative to alocking plate 9 secured to the exterior of the casing 1. A glass panel 6is secured in the front wall of the casing 1 adjacent the front thereofto enable the liquid level within the container to be determined fromthe exterior thereof and without having to open the door 4. A hopper 7is also provided on one face of the casing 1 to enable chemicals andother materials for the washing cycle to be fed to the container.

Liquid inlet valves '16 and .17 are connected to pipes 29 and 30respectively and to a union 31 which enables hot and cold water to befed to the interior of the container. An inlet connection 18 isconnected by a pipe 27 to an elbow 28 for the admission of steam to theinterior of the container to heat the liquid in the container.

A sump 36 is located at the bottom of the container, discharge ofwashing and rinsing elfluent from the machine being controlled by avalve indicated at 24, the effluent passing through an outlet 32 to apipe 33 having a flange 34 for connecting to a drain. A gauge 15' isprovided for indication of the temperature of the liquid inside thecontainer. The belts 22 are mounted one adjacent each end of thecylinder so that the cylinder is supported on the pulleys 23 and 26carried on parallel shafts.

The shaft 39 carrying the pulleys 26 has its pulleycarrying endsextending into the container 43. The middle portion of the shaft 39 ishowever outside the connular ring 42 in which is located a resilientsealing member 60 held in contact with the outer surface of theshaft'3'9 by a spring 44.

The belts 22 may be of any convenient type but it has been found inpractice that belts known as Power Grip having steel cable tensionmembers 51 and with nylon facing bars 53 for contacting with facing bars2 on the pulleys 26 are especially suitable. When a washing machineaccording to the present invention is used in hospitals it is desirablethat the door of the machine through which soiled or infected linen isinserted into the machine should be in a different room from the doorthrough which the clean linen is withdrawn. A Wall of thecasing may betaken to and removed from the machine in' wheeled containers and buffers2 are secured adjacent either side of the machine to prevent the wheeledoontainers from accidentally damaging the machine.

To eliminate as much as possible any lateral and/or axial movement ofthe container when being rotated, movement limiting means are preferablyprovided. Movement limiting means for axial movement are illustrated inFIGURE 8. Movement limiting means for lateral movement are illustratedin FIGURE 9. Rings 54 are mounted'near each end of the exteriorperipheral surface of the cylinder 3. :In addition to acting as beltguides these rings operate in conjunction with stops 55 and 5 9.

The part section on the horizontal center line of the cylinder, FIGURE9, shows one of four stops 55 made from, for example, nylon or alaminated phenolic resin, secured by bolts 56 to the wall of thecontainer 43, so that if the cylinder swings on its supporting belts ina lateral direction the ring 54 contacts the stops 55 on the sidetowardswhich it swings.

The part section on the vertical center line of the cylinder, FIGURE 8,shows one of two stops 59 at each end of the cylinder, secured to thewalls 1 by bolts '58, and which restrict axial movement of the cylinder.

In use the invention has particular application for the washing andlaundering of linen in hospitals but also has application as acommercial laundering machine. The features of the invention whichenable the linen to be inserted and removed from both sides of themachine or alternatively have one side as a loading station and one sideas an unloading station has special advantages. The mounting of thecylinder on the endless flexible elements provides a simple andconvenient support for the cylinder and obviates the inherentdifficulties of mounting a rotating cylinder on cantilevers on a shaft.A machine in accordance with the invention also occupies much less spacethan machines of conventional types.

What I claim is:

1. A washing machine comprising a liquid container having parallel endwalls, each wall having a large opening therein, a hinged 'door carriedby each end wall to provide fluid-tight closures for said openings, aperforated rotatable drum with open ends positioned in said container inaxial alignment with said openings, two endless flexible elements in theform of closed loops supporting said drum wholly within the areasdefined by said loops and means including pulleys for carrying anddriving the flexible elements with the drum supported by said elements.

2.. The washing machine of claim 1, in which the carrying and drivingmeans comprises a shaft with a pulley on each end thereof.

3. The washing machine of claim 2, in which the pulley-carrying ends ofthe shaft are inside the container while the middle portion of the shaftis outside the container.

4. The washing machine of claim 3, in which the middle portion oftheshaft is supported by bearings carried on top of the container.

5. The washing machine of claim 4, in which a fluidtight seal isprovided near each end of the shaft between the pulley and the adjacentbearing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. A WASHING MACHINE COMPRISING A LIQUID CONTAINER HAVING PARALLEL ENDWALLS, EACH WALL HAVING A LARGE OPENING THEREIN, A HINGED DOOR CARRIEDBY EACH END WALL TO PROVIDE FLUID-TIGHT CLOSURES FOR SAID OPENINGS, APERFORATED ROTATABLE DRUM WITH OPEN ENDS POSITIONED IN SAID CONTAINER INAXIAL ALIGNMENT WITH SAID OPENINGS, TWO ENDLESS FLEXIBLE ELEMENTS IN THEFORM OF CLOSED LOOPS SUPPORTING SAID DRUM WHOLLY WITHIN THE AREASDEFINED BY SAID LOOPS AND MEANS INCLUDING PULLEYS FOR CARRYING ANDDRIVING THE FLEXIBLE ELEMENTS WITH THE DRUM SUPPORTED BY SAID ELEMENTS.